At the FTVG Project Showcase and Awards, the Gender Equality Toolkit in Transport was announced as this year’s winner of the FTVG Outstanding Project Award. The winning team of Laura Brooks, Marie Godward and Molly Hoggard, transport planners at WSP and Mott MacDonald, will receive additional funding through FTVG to progress their project, as well as getting the opportunity to further promote their project at conferences and industry articles over the next few months.
The toolkit provides several approaches for mainstreaming gender considerations in transportation through an interactive website. As well as acting as a resource, Molly hopes that the toolkit will have some wider applications;
“We hope to shed some awareness on the issue of gender inaccessibility in transport and to get conversations going, particularly so that professionals in the industry can understand how the work they do has a part to play.”
FTVG funded inputs from each of the project team and to facilitate engagement sessions and web hosting fees. The engagement sessions attracted over 50 participants, with an additional 350 responses to an industry survey. Since launching in May 2021, the toolkit webpage has attracted over 1,100 hits from 32 countries across the globe. The team continue to actively promote their project through the CIHT Young Professionals Podcast and at a recent Women in Transport seminar. They also facilitated a gender mainstreaming workshop with Buckinghamshire County Council which enabled three pilot studies into better inclusivity on their transport projects.
Reflecting on the outcomes of the project, Marie said;
“This project was a great opportunity to build experience in areas such as workshop hosting, communicating research findings with industry professionals and managing a project from the beginning to end-stage which I think will very beneficial for our professional development.”
Summing up the judge’s comments, FTVG Steering Group member Nicola Kane said;
“A fantastic, inspirational piece of work, which has stimulated some really important conversations around the specific transport needs of women. The website it beautifully and thoughtfully designed, ensuring it is not only practical, but offers great value for money and a lasting legacy beyond the FTVG initiative itself. It looks like this will become an excellent go-to resource for all transport professionals. I hope the development of the website and LinkedIn group continues to gain momentum and we all look forward to seeing how the group progresses.”
Commenting on their win, Laura said;
“At the start we didn’t actually think we’d be able to make a toolkit, so for us to win is great!”
You can follow the next steps our winning group takes on their LinkedIn pages; or you can access the toolkit itself via: www.the-get-it.com
The judges also chose to recognise a project headed up by Charles Wain (Highways England), Emily Cowling (Transport for Greater Manchester) and Ian Woodhouse (Mott MacDonald) to examine the long-term implications of Covid-19 on transport planning and policy
The project received a “Highly Commended” award with the judges commenting;
“A really competent piece of research encompassing a wide range of views. We liked the fact it took a long-term view on the implications of COVID-19 and provided a useful barometer point as we recover from a global state of shock, with valuable insights, professional opinion, and helpful recommendations on where we go next.”
As well as the awards, the event enabled each of this year’s participants to present their project over a series of 10-minute presentations. These provided a summary of the approach taken for each projects and the progress they have made since the completion of this year’s initiative.
To watch the project showcase and awards, click the link below: